Romans 4.20b-Abraham Was Empowered By Means of His Faith While Simultaneously Giving Glory to God
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday February 28, 2008
Romans: Romans 4:20b-Abraham Was Empowered By Means of His Faith While Simultaneously Giving Glory to God
Tape # 136
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 4:13.
Last evening, we noted Romans 4:20a, which teaches that with respect to God’s promise to give him a child, Abraham did not permit himself to doubt by means of unbelief.
This evening we will study Romans 4:20b, which teaches that despite Abraham’s sexual impotence, he did not enter into unbelief but rather he was empowered by means of his faith in the Lord’s ability to bring to pass that which He had promised him while simultaneously giving glory to God.
Romans 4:13, “For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith.”
Romans 4:14, “For if those who are of the Law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise is nullified.”
Romans 4:15, “for the Law brings about wrath, but where there is no law, there also is no violation.”
Romans 4:16, “For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.”
Romans 4:17, “(as it is written, ‘A FATHER OF MANY NATIONS HAVE I MADE YOU’) in the presence of Him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist.”
Romans 4:18, “In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, ‘SO SHALL YOUR DESCENDANTS BE.’”
Romans 4:19, “Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah's womb.”
Romans 4:20, “yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God.”
“But” is the “adversative” use of the conjunction alla (a)llav) (al-lah), which introduces a statement that stands in direct contrast with the previous statement that Abraham never permitted himself to doubt by entering into unbelief in God’s promise of giving him and Sarah a child in their advanced age.
Therefore, the word presents a contrast between unbelief and faith.
“Grew strong” is the verb endunamoo (e)ndunamovw) (en-doo-nam-o-o), which is a compound word and is composed of the preposition en, “in” and the noun dunamis, “power,” thus the word literally means “in-strengthened, inwardly strengthened.”
In Romans 4:20, the verb endunamoo refers to Abraham being “empowered” by his absolute confidence that God would fulfill His promise to him and Sarah of a child in their advanced age.
Therefore, this brings into view the spiritual principle that the believer appropriates the omnipotence by means of faith in the Word of God.
Omnipotence is an attribute of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
The word omnipotence is a compound word from the Latin meaning “all powerful,” and is composed of the following: (1) Omni, “all.” (2) Potence, “power.”
Omnipotence is one of the characteristics of the divine essence. (Father: Mark 14:36 and Luke 1:37; Son: Col. 1:16-17; Heb. 1:3; Spirit: Rom. 15:13)
God has limitless and infinite ability to do something (Gen. 18:14a; Psa. 147:5a; Isa. 40:26; Lk. 1:37).
There is power in the Word of God (Psa. 33:6a; Heb. 1:3a; 4:12a; 11:3a; 2 Co. 6:7; Heb. 4:12; 2 Pet. 3:5).
Hebrews 4:12, “The Word of God is alive and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of the soul and the spirit, and of the joints and the marrow, and is a critic of thoughts and intents of the heart.”
In Romans 4:20, the verb endunamoo means, “empowered” and is accompanied by the articular dative instrumental form of the noun pistis, “by means of his faith” indicating that Abraham was empowered by his absolute confidence that God would fulfill His promise to him and Sarah of a child in their advanced age.
The word means that Abraham’s faith in the Lord’s promise of a child empowered him to be absolutely confident that the Lord could deliver on His promise despite the fact that it was humanly possible.
This is indicated by Paul’s statement in Romans 4:18-19.
In Romans 4:18, Paul teaches that Abraham had absolute confidence upon the promise of a child and innumerable posterity despite the fact that it was humanly impossible due to he and his wife’s advanced age.
In Romans 4:19, Paul teaches that Abraham did not become weak in his faith in the Lord’s promise even after being thoroughly aware after careful consideration and observation that he and Sarah were sexually impotent.
Then, in Romans 4:20, Paul teaches us that Abraham was empowered by means of his faith in the Lord’s promise.
A comparison of Romans 4:18-20a indicates that Abraham was empowered or received the capacity to be absolutely confident in the Lord’s ability to deliver on His promise despite the fact that it was humanly impossible because he had absolute confidence in the Lord’s ability to deliver on that promise.
In Romans 4:17, Paul teaches that Abraham had absolute confidence that the Lord could deliver on His promise to him because he knew the Lord was omnipotent who gives life to the dead and command the non-existent to exist.
Abraham’s absolute confidence in the Lord’s ability to deliver on His promise to him because the Lord was omnipotent not only gave Abraham confidence that the Lord would fulfill His promise to him despite the fact that it was humanly impossible but also it gave him the capacity to endure the adversity of being childless and sexually impotent.
This recalls Paul’s statement regarding his life in Philippians 4:10-13.
In Philippians 4:13, Paul employs this same verb endunamoo.
Philippians 4:10-13, “Now, I rejoiced greatly because of the Lord that now at last all of you have revived your consideration for me. In fact, before all of you were always considerate but all of you were always lacking an opportunity. Not that I ever speak because of want since I have learned for myself through the application of doctrine to experience how to be in a habitual state of contentment in whatever present circumstance. I have experienced not only poverty but also I have experienced prosperity. By means of every circumstance and by means of all kinds of situations I am intimately acquainted with not only satiation, but also starvation, not only prosperity, but also destitution. I possess the power to overcome all kinds of situations by means of the one whose doctrine empowers me.”
The permissive passive voices of the verb diakrino and endunamoo emphasize that Abraham made a conscious choice to not enter into unbelief in the Lord’s promise and to instead trust in the Lord.
This in turn empowered him to have absolute confidence in the fulfillment of the promise despite the fact that the fulfillment of the promise was humanly impossible!
Romans 4:20, “yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God.”
“In faith” is the noun pistis (pivsti$) (pis-tis), which refers to Abraham’s non-meritorious decision “to place his absolute confidence in” the preincarnate Son of God’s ability to deliver on His promise that of a child to him and Sarah in their advanced age recorded in Genesis 17:16.
Genesis 17:15-16, “Then God said to Abraham, ‘As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and indeed I will give you a son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.’
The word functions as a “dative instrumental of means,” which indicates that Abraham permitted himself to be empowered “by means of” faith in the Lord’s promise of a child.
“Giving” is the verb didomi (divdwmi) (did-o-mee), which indicates that by permitting himself to be empowered by means of his faith in the Lord’s promise, Abraham not only acquired the capacity to have absolute confidence in the Lord’s promise despite the fact that the fulfillment of the promise was humanly impossible but also he gave glory to God in the process.
The verb didomi functions as a “temporal” participle, which is used in relation to the controlling verb and answers the question as to “when” the action of the controlling verb took place, which in context, is endunamoo.
Also, the aorist participle form of the verb didomi is contemporaneous in time with the action of the main verb endunamoo, which is also in the aorist tense.
The fact that both verbs are in the aorist tense denotes the action of didomi is “contemporaneous” in time with endunamoo.
This indicates that while Abraham was empowering himself by means of his faith in the Lord “simultaneously” or “at the same time,” he was giving glory to God.
“Glory” is the noun doxa (dovca) (dox-ha), which refers to the adoring praise, honor, recognition and worshipful thanksgiving that Abraham expressed to God as a result of God fulfilling His promise to Abraham of a child even though he and his wife Sarah were both sexually dead.
It also refers to the fact that the omnipotence of God was manifested through Abraham’s sexual impotence since the exercise of God’s omnipotence gave Abraham and Sarah the ability to have sex again and procreate even though Abraham was 99 and Sarah 90.
Therefore, Abraham gave glory to God in the sense that the omnipotence of God was manifested through his sexual impotence since God’s omnipotence gave Abraham and Sarah the ability to copulate and procreate even though both were in their nineties.
The power of God in our lives is never more noticeable or conspicuous as when we are suffering, going through adversities and even going through the process of dying.
Abraham acknowledged his own human weakness or impotence so as to experience the power of God in life and his right to appropriate that power by faith and claiming the divine promises given to him.
The Lord taught the apostle Paul these spiritual principles.
2 Corinthians 12:7-10 illustrates this Biblical principle that divine power is manifested in human weakness.
2 Corinthians 12:1-10, “Boasting is necessary, though it is not profitable; but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago -- whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows -- such a man was caught up to the third heaven. And I know how such a man -- whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows -- was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak. On behalf of such a man I will boast; but on my own behalf I will not boast, except in regard to my weaknesses. For if I do wish to boast I will not be foolish, for I will be speaking the truth; but I refrain from this, so that no one will credit me with more than he sees in me or hears from me. Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me -- to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”
Abraham’s sexual impotence caused him to place his confidence in the Lord and His power rather than in his own strength and ability to deal with problems with being sexually dead and childless.
Abraham’s faith in dealing with his sexual impotence and advanced age and childlessness serves as a reminder to believer’s in the 21st century to not depend upon their own power and ability but rather to depend and rely upon the power of God to deal with problems with people and adversities in life.